A lot transpired inside WSU athletics over the course of winter break. Curious what you may have missed? We’ve got you covered.

Here’s exactly what you missed from each sport, as well as other news involving WSU sports:

Men’s Basketball

The men’s basketball team went 8-2 while students were away at break. The two losses came in succession at the hands of Temple and Houston.

The Shockers also saw themselves slip into the Associated Press top-25 and worked their way all the way up to the No. 16 ranking in the country. In the most recent AP Poll, after back-to-back losses when it was released, WSU fell out of the rankings to be the first team looking in at No. 26. 

While you were gone, sophomore combo guard Dexter Dennis left the program on a brief leave of absence (three games) for “personal reasons.” The Shockers won all three games during his absence.

The team currently sits at No. 4 in the American Athletic Conference standings. Houston and Tulsa are tied for first in the conference and Memphis is right behind them.

Women’s Basketball

The women’s basketball team went 6-4 during winter break, including a win in which they broke the century scoring mark against Arkansas Pine-Bluff, winning 100-50. Their losses were against Creighton, Virginia Tech, No. 1 UConn, and Tulane.

Against Temple on Sunday, Trajata Colbert hit a buzzer-beating layup to defeat the Owls. Colbert finished with eight points on the night. Guard Mariah McCully has been on fire for the Shockers as of late. Against Temple, she tallied a team-high 15 points on 5-19 shooting.

WSU played their final conference game against UConn over the break. The top-ranked Huskies won the matchup 83-55. UConn will be leaving the AAC for the Big East at the end of the season.

On the year, the Shockers are 11-7 and 3-2 in conference play. They currently sit at No. 4 in the conference and are just a half game back of Temple (4-2) and tied for third in the standings.

Track and Field

The WSU track and field team had two indoor meets over the winter break — the Shocker Prelude and KU-KSU-WSU Triangular.

In the Shocker Prelude, teams from Emporia State Friends, Butler County Community College, and Hutchinson Community College competed. The Shockers placed second in the meet with 151 points. Emporia State won with 182 points.

In the triangular, the Shockers took second again with 221 points, trailing Kansas State with 254.5 points. Kansas finished last with 191.5 points.

The next indoor track meet of the season, the Jayhawk Classic, starts on Thursday in Lawrence.

Golden’s Plan

Over break, new WSU President Jay Golden announced a number of task forces to promote shared governance on campus, including an Athletics task force.

Athletics Director Darron Boatright and Dean of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation Jeremy Patterson will co-head a task force to look into the possibility of adding new sports to the agenda here at WSU. Golden stated that he had been approached by students, alumni, and community members on the possibility of adding programs including, “but not limited to,” soccer, esports, lacrosse, and ice hockey.

Golden said the task force will examine those issues and make a set of recommendations, and he is asking that the task force provides him with options for the reutilization of the Cessna Stadium complex to host “new sports” as well as “being adaptable” for housing a new football program at any level, “if the financial model changes in the future years.”

He said these recommendations should “advance the student experience, future student recruitment, and community engagement in a financially sustainable approach.”